


Painting After Midnight

by Twilighthawke



Series: Apartment AU [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Apartment AU, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, M/M, i am aware, magic is computers, ninalyn remains adorable, yeah real origonal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-29
Updated: 2015-04-21
Packaged: 2018-03-20 04:38:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3637002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twilighthawke/pseuds/Twilighthawke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stupid Apartment Alternate Universe, Solavellan cuteness because why not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It Was 2AM

It was 2AM.

It was 2AM and someone was knocking on his door.

Not that Solas wasn’t awake, he did some of his best work late at night, but it was unusual for anyone else to be awake. Or at least knocking on people’s doors. He opened the door and then adjusted his gaze an inch down.

“Hi I’m sorry to bother you this late,” The woman was short, with white-blonde hair that fell into her wide purple eyes. “I saw the light on under the door and I figured you were awake.” She shifted her weight from foot to foot.

“Yes I was awake,” Solas said. “I wasn’t expecting any callers though.” He added meaningfully.

“Ah, yeah that would make sense.” She clasped and unclasped her hands.

“You are…?” Solas prompted. What was this creature doing knocking on his door at this ungodly hour for, is what he meant. But you catch more flies with honey than vinegar, and she was cute.

“I’m your neighbor.” She pointed at her door; 213. “Uh, my name is Ninalyn.” She offered her hand which Solas shook briefly. She had tiny, delicate hands and soft skin, Solas couldn’t help but notice before she pulled it away.

“Solas,” he replied. “An odd time to be making acquaintances.” He said meaningfully. Her eyes got even bigger, he wouldn’t have thought it was possible for her large eyes to get any bigger if he hadn’t been witnessing it with his own eyes.

“Right! I’m sorry to bother you it’s just that…” she glanced back at her door. He looked too. “There is a _bigass_ spider in my bathroom and I need someone to kill it.” She said miserably. Solas nearly laughed out loud. He stifled the impulse but he did find himself smiling.

“I see,” Solas said as she appeared to be looking for a reply. “So you left your apartment in search of a spider slayer,” she nodded. “At 2AM.” She nodded again, she was blushing, her pale skin making it quite the color display.

“Will…” She finally brought herself to look in his eyes. “Will you help me?” She asked.

“You’d invite a complete stranger into your house at 2AM?” He teased her. It was the wrong thing to say because she looked alarmed at that point and looked down at herself. She was wearing red and white striped pajama pants and a white tank top. She had thrown an oversized hoodie on as she had left her apartment, and she zipped the jacket completely.

“I… I know you.” She said with confidence she obviously did not feel. “You’re name is Solas, and you’re a painter.” She nodded and he raised his eyebrow.

“Oh?” He couldn’t help himself, “How do you know that?” He was still teasing her. Frankly, it would be a crime _not_ to tease her, she was so cute.

“You have paint on your face,” she reached up a hand and rubbed away a paint splot, surprising Solas.

“You have me there.” His smile was wolfish.

“So,” She folded her arms protectively over her chest. “You’ll help me?” She lifted her chin, more false confidence.

“I have to,” Solas said mysteriously.

“Why?” She dropped her chin, the wide-eyed expression coming back.

“I simply _must_ see the spider that drove such a brave creature from her home.” He grinned that same lupine smile.

She glared at him but there was no real ire behind the expression. She let him follow her to her apartment. She was sort of grateful to the spider at that point. She had no idea her neighbor was so fit.


	2. NOT Stalking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ninalyn may or may not be stalking her tall, attractive neighbor.

Ninalyn was _not_ stalking him.

She didn’t go through his trash, or steal his mail to see if he was getting love letters. Or learn where he bought his coffee.

She was, however, pressed against her front door with her ear at the crack between the door and the frame, waiting to hear him open his door and go to work. Or whatever it was he left his apartment for. He was a painter, he might not have a job. She wasn’t going to follow him or whatever. She didn’t know what she was going to do when he opened that door.

She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her tall neighbor since the night she had invited him into her apartment to kill an ENORMUS spider in her bathroom. She’d only caught glances of him since then. Once at the mailboxes--well, she was at the mailboxes and he was heading up the stairs. She had said hello once, when he was exiting the building and she was walking in. He had smiled, but she still wasn’t sure he recognized her.

She was wearing her contacts then so he probably didn’t. Ninalyn wore her colored contacts during the day, and had already taken them out when she had knocked on his door at 2AM. She had purple eyes and pale blonde hair. It was distracting and she didn’t like the extra attention she got from strangers. So she had gotten brown contacts even though her vision was 20/20.

She was roused from her revelry when she heard a lock click. She briefly worried it wasn’t his door, but she was going to be late to work if she waited any longer. So she took a deep breath, and opened her door, trying very hard for a casual demeanor.

It _had_ been his door, Ninalyn nearly grinned, but she maintained her veneer of calm ignorance. She turned around and locked her door behind her before turning towards his door. Her heart nearly stopped when she saw him looking right at her. Staring even, his key still in his door. His brow furrowed briefly in confusion.

“G-good morning,” Ninalyn cursed her stutter inwardly but outwardly gave Solas a bright smile. His face smoothed into an answering smile, although there remained traces of that first confused look.

“It is,” He replied smoothly. He removed his keyring and pocketed it. Ninalyn realized that she, too, had been standing there with her key still in the door. She blushed as she dropped her keys into her purse. She looked back up at him to find that he was still staring at her.

“Heading out?” Ninalyn asked and cursed at herself inwardly again. _No, he’s not going out, he’s looking for a bit of fresh air in this windowless hallway._ She was relieved when he smiled at her again.

“Yes,” He replied. “Can I walk you out?” the question caught Ninalyn off guard. It was so 1900’s that she half expected him to offer his arm for her to hold on the way out. So distracted by this thought, she almost forgot to reply to the gentlemanly offer.

“Uh, of course,” She managed, heading towards the stairs. He fell into step alongside her, a sort of tight fit in the narrow stairwell. Ninalyn blushed again when their shoulders bumped.

“Where are you headed?” Solas asked as they reached the lobby. Ninalyn felt her eyes go wide. She had been desperately trying to come up with a sly way to ask that very question since the top of the stairs. How was he so smooth? There was a hair pun there somewhere.

“T-thirty Fourth Street,” She stuttered and pointed up the street as he held the front door open for her. She marveled again at his chivalry. Not that men didn’t normally hold doors open for her, but they normally walked ahead of her to do it. Solas held the door open with one arm and let her brush past him to exit.

“Ah,” He nodded. “I am, myself, heading for Thirty Second Street.” He said and Ninalyn nearly crowed in triumph. He was walking her way! Wait, what if he didn’t want to walk with her? They barely knew each other. As much as Ninalyn want to get to know her mysterious neighbor better, she didn’t think she possessed the nerve to ask him if he wanted to walk with her.

“That’s k-kinda cool,” She tried for a cool exterior but her stutter made itself known so that screwed up that plan. “Did you wanna walk a ways with me?” She surprised herself by asking before her brain caught up with her mouth. What had she said? Had she bluntly asked him to walk with her? Why had she done such a stupid thing? What if he thought she was weird?

“I would be delighted,” Solas replied easily.

“You would?” Ninalyn blurted out. She blushed for the third time that morning, and he chuckled. He had a rich, throaty laugh that did something funny to her chest. She could spend hours trying to tease that laugh out of his perfect, full lips. She pushed anymore thoughts about his lips out of her mind.

“I would,” he was still laughing a little. “I can think of worse things to do than spend time with an attractive woman.” He said smoothly. Ninalyn blinked several times, blushed _again_ , and tucked her short hair behind her ear.

“I-I could do worse I guess,” she managed and he rewarded her with another laugh. He inclined his head up the street and they started walking. Side by side again, shoulders occasionally brushing as people passed on either side of them.

They talked about nothing at all for several blocks. The weather, how much they both hated traffic, various TV shows one had watched and the other had never heard of. It was slightly awkward, to Ninalyn at least, but nonetheless enjoyable. All too soon, they arrived at Thirty-Second Street and Solas stopped, Ninalyn walked a step farther to stand in front of him.

“It was nice to speak with you again,” Solas gave her another one of those small smiles. He was so much taller than her, that when she was standing this close, he had to tilt his head down to look her in the eyes. His eyes were greyer then they had been the night of the bathroom spider, when they had been blue like the sea.

“Ye-yeah I’m glad I bumped into you,” She continued to stutter, but at this point she was resigned to the fact that Solas had that effect on her. “See you later?” She hadn’t meant for it to come out a question, but she suddenly really wanted to know the answer.

“I suspect so,” Solas raised one eyebrow in amusement. Ninalyn couldn’t help the sunny smile she gave him after that. She turned to continue up the street. She hadn’t gone very far before she turned back to see if he was still there. Her heart sank when she saw he wasn’t, and she scolded herself for such a silly thought.

\--

Solas watched his neighbor head up the street with the same fascination he had felt when she had first knocked on his door. He almost hadn’t recognized her in the hallway. Hadn’t she had purple eyes? Solas wondered if his memory was really reliable. It had been rather late at night. Perhaps his brain was adding extra details where they weren’t.

He headed towards his final destination. No, he decided, she had definitely had had purple eyes. It was too fanciful for his brain to invent. He was a painter, not a romantic, though the two are often confused. He wondered why she felt the need to hide such a striking feature. If he was being honest with himself, he spent a lot of time wondering things about his neighbor.

Like what was that intoxicating scent she was wearing. Solas had keen artistic senses, one of his best was his sense of smell. He could smell it when the wind shifted and ruffled her hair. He had watched her tuck her hair ineffectually behind her ears several times. He didn’t really need to watch her like he did, he found his eyes drawn to her, the sight of her proving as intoxicating as that scent.

Solas realized he was obsessing a little, and resolved that there was only one way to deal with this. He simply had to paint her lest he lose his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Ninalyn so friggin much. As always, please tell me what you think. I'm trying to emphasize his wolfy-ness as a little bit hence the weird smelling thing. Not too creepy??
> 
> (K, nobody get alarmed, im going to be heavily editing how these are being posted. I apologize in advance, i still have no idea how to use this site.)


	3. Paint

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dorian makes an appearance, Solas is dramatic and Ninalyn shows us unexpected depths.

If Solas had had hair, he would be tearing it out.

It was wrong, it was all wrong! He just didn’t know how to fix it. He sulked at the canvas at the end of his studio. It was large, big for just a portrait piece. She stared at him with those giant amethyst eyes, looking at him expectantly.

 _‘Well, aren’t you going to finish me?’_ Solas snarled and threw a sheet over the now dry canvas. He stalked across the room to fling himself, dramatically on his sofa. He had no idea what was wrong with the portrait. Solas was an excellent painter, he had an eye for detail and a good memory. That was why he almost never painted what he saw. That was too easy, too mundane. Too boring.

He didn’t want to wax romantic as many painters did. He didn’t insist on painting in the perfect environment, he didn’t paint the soul or whatever the kids were calling it. Solas reluctantly had decided he painted the inner self. Or, when it was still life, the layer of reality beneath the top layer where people lived. He visited it in his dreams.

Ninalyn fascinated him because she was a mystery. First, there were those eyes she hid; Solas wanted to know why she did that. He wanted to see them again. He wanted to know why she wasn’t coming to life on his canvas. Quite frankly it irritated him, her shyness.

She was pretty, she had that fair-hair fair-skin look that was attractive nowadays. And petite, Solas had heard men liked short, delicate women. Solas liked women who were attractive in general. Solas didn’t see the point in narrowing his field with a ‘type’. Nonetheless, he could tell she was a pretty woman, her eyes could only add to her physical attractiveness. Why would she hide them? She would have to drive the men off with a stick.

Solas had an idea then. If he could seduce her, he could get her to do anything he wanted. She would open up to him, and he would be able to paint her and move on. Solas was a handsome man, he flirted easily enough. He was an artist, and that usually did half of the work for him. Added to the fact that he actually _listened_ when women talk, Solas could be quite persuasive when he wanted to be.

Solas stood, determination creasing his face. He’d have to start right away if he wanted to get this painting done anytime soon.

\--

Ninalyn’s day was not off to a good start. First, management had decided to move the personnel meeting up an hour. Ninalyn left step by step instructions on how the projector connected to the computer, and how to open the presentation. She got a frantic call about four minutes into the meeting, blaming her and her department of course. Because it couldn’t be the fault of the 30-year-old, balding white man. A man who clearly still thought vacuum tubes were the pinnacle of technological advances.

She comforted herself with that thought until she made it back to her desk to see Dorian. Great. Dorian was a nice enough guy. He was new to the tech department, and was unfortunately under the impression that Ninalyn liked him. Even more unfortunately, he was under the impression that showing off to her was the best way to win her affections.

Dorian had only been here about a month and he had literally flirted with the entire IT department. He’d spent most of his time on Ninalyn, though. She didn’t know if it was her utter disinterest that turned him on, or the fact that he thought she was stupid. Either way his attentions bordered on offensive and his flirtations on the imbecilic.

“Nina!” Dorian waved jauntily. “Everything hunky-dory in the presentation room?” He asked pleasantly enough. He was leaning on her desk. She nudged him aside and sat in her chair.

“Hunky-dory,” Ninalyn nodded an affirmative. She turned to her computer screen, in hopes that he would take a hint and leave. Instead of her desktop, Ninalyn saw some sort of code. She squinted at it, confused. She never left her coding up on her screen. She noticed Dorian’s smug look.

“Like that?” He asked leaning over her. “I can explain what it does if you want me too.” He offered and Ninalyn had to stop herself from snorting derisively.

“I know what it does, Dorian,” She rolled her eyes. “It’s a code for compiling data from multiple servers, sort through them,” she scrolled down the code and paused for dramatic effect. “And it looks like it finds all the porn sites?” She looked at Dorian who looked a little lost for words.

“Well, I,” Dorian was coming up with a lie.

“Anyway, it doesn’t work does it?” Ninalyn asked as she turned back to the screen.

“Beg pardon?” Dorian asked.

“You have an unfinished bit of code here,” she pointed. “You aren’t even finished?” She looked at him again, confused. “Why are you showing me this?” She asked.

“To be honest, I thought I could convince you to upload it to the company server,” Dorian said sheepishly. “Being the director of tech.” Ninalyn was really confused then.

“Why?” She asked again. “You could upload it to any server and you would probably find porn on it.”

“I don’t just want to find it,” Dorian admitted, leaning closer to her, conspiratorially. “I want to block it from the company internet.” This was exasperating, every question he answered brought up three more.

“Again I say, why, Dorian?” She lowered her voice to match his. Dorian looked away then, frustrated.

“Because the buffoon in the desk behind me keeps sending me gay porn,” he confessed angrily. Sensing another question, he turned back to Ninalyn. “Because he found out I’m gay.” Things started clicking into place. Dorian was a terrible flirt, but he had never seemed too serious to Ninalyn.

“So what was with,” she pointed between the two of them and Dorian had the good graces to look guilty.

“Yes, the flirting,” he gave her an apologetic look. “I heard you were single, and you showed zero interest in my initial flirting…” He trailed off. Ninalyn found herself liking him, now that he wasn’t treating her like a fake gamer girl.

“That makes sense,” she gave him a reassuring smile. “Word of advice,” she continued. “Don’t flirt with your superior by flexing your technological muscles.” She patted his arm and she was rewarded with a laugh. “I didn’t get here by my looks alone.” She rolled her eyes.

“Not that your looks couldn’t have gotten you anywhere you wanted,” Dorian purred and she shoved him playfully. Now that she knew he was just trying to make her smile, she didn’t mind his flattery.

“How did he find out?” She asked but then reconsidered. “Never mind, I don’t care, he shouldn’t be doing that.” She turned to her computer and closed the coding window. Dorian protested but Ninalyn shushed him. “Your plan would work, but I can do you one better.” She actually pulled up a saved file. Dorian looked at it a few minutes.

“This takes his internet history and posts it to his facebook page, and then messages every female in his contact list?” Dorian looked equal parts horrified and excited. “That is _evil_ why do you have this?”

“You are not the first victim of sexual harassment,” Ninalyn frowned at the memory. “Anyway, which desk?” Ninalyn asked.

The day turned around immediately. Dorian proved a good friend to have. He was funny, and he really was as good at programming as he claimed. He knew more about finding code than writing it, though. It was a neat shortcut that Ninalyn mentally made a note to have him teach it to her.

The work day passed without incident, which ruffled Dorian’s feathers a little. She explained that the virus would activate next morning so that people checking their Facebook in the morning would see it first thing. Dorian approved. He even offered to walk her home, which she politely turned down. Nonetheless she hummed a little on the way down the street.

When she got home she was surprised to find a bouquet of flowers at her front door. She looked around, and then checked to make sure she was at the right door. No one was around, and it was definitely her apartment. She picked up the bouquet. They were lilacs. They smelled great and, to Ninalyn’s eternal shame, they were her favorite color.

She couldn’t help but glance at Solas’ door. She shook her head and fumbled out her keys. There was no proof he had left them for her. He barely knew her after all. They had talked twice, very briefly each time. She got her door open, stepped inside and closed the door behind her. Only then did she notice the note.

There was a small white card nestled in the middle of the blossoms. She reached in and pulled it out. On one side, it had the name of the flower shop. On the other side, written in a spidery script, was a note.

“Delightful walk this morning, care to do the same tomorrow? –Solas”

Just that. ‘Solas’. All elegant like. Ninalyn squealed a little bit and hopped up and down in place before she got a hold of herself. It was hardly a marriage proposal, or even a date. It was a promise. She nearly danced through her nightly routine. She couldn’t wait for tomorrow.

\--

Solas heard her come home and smiled to himself. She was cute, Solas admitted. He might actually enjoy this flirtation while it lasted. He gave a smug look towards the still covered painting on the far wall. He would have her captured there soon. He turned off the lights and turned in for the night, intending to wake early to catch her on her way to work. That was his last thought before sleep overcame him.

When he dreamed he dreamed of her. She was like she was in his painting, fey-like, purple eyes large and staring right at him. She took his hands and urge him to follow her. He tried, but as soon as she let go of his hands she was distorted. If he could just get another look he would know what was missing from his painting. She retreated farther and he moved to follow her, he called out to her with no reply. He couldn’t move his legs, he looked down to see lilacs growing under his feet and rooting him in place. They kept growing, pushing upwards, they meant to bury him. He drew breath to shout-

And then he woke.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND. Thank you BlueWillow78 for showing an interest.


	4. Maker use me as a hat stand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ninalyn makes slow progress getting Solas to open up. Solas reveals more than he anticipated. And Iron Bull puts in an appearance.

Ninalyn nearly growled at her reflection in the full length mirror on the back of her closet door. Solas had walked her to work every day for three weeks and she was running out of cute things to wear. Dorian was getting suspicious too. When she came to work in heels, he knew. She didn’t know how he knew from her _shoes,_ because he had stormed right up to her desk.

“Who is he, what does he look like, and what does he do for a living?” He rattled off questions sharply, his eyes positively glistening with excitement. Ninalyn blushed to the tips of her ears, and mumbled that she had no idea what he was talking about. “Bullshit, Nina,” Dorian swore, raising one eyebrow skeptically. “I need details.” Ninalyn sighed, but she grinned at Dorian finally.

“His name is Solas,” she began and Dorian made a triumphant noise and dragged a chair over to sit closer to her. He waved his hand in a ‘keep going’ gesture and she giggled as she went on. “He lives in my building—he’s my next door neighbor actually.”

“Oooh, boy next door type,” Dorian wiggled his eyebrows at her and she laughed again.

“He’s been walking me to work for a while now.” She stopped, not intending to say anything more. But she couldn’t help herself. “He brought me flowers.” Dorian made an appreciative noise. He was teasing her and she shoved him.

“You’re a lucky woman, Ninalyn,” Dorian commented. “More like he’s a lucky man,” he corrected himself. He wasn’t teasing her this time. Dorian had become a fast friend and she valued that friendship more than anything else. She pushed him for flattery, but she couldn’t stop her grin.

“I wish I could get him to open up.” She sighed and kicked her shoes off underneath her desk. “He likes to talk about me, but whenever I ask him a personal question, he changes the subject.” She rubbed her heels together.

“You should stop offering personal information until he offers some of his own,” Dorian told her. He was a genius and she told him so. “I know.” He grinned wickedly at her and brushed his moustache. She brought up Bull and Dorian suddenly remembered how much work he had to do gotta go bye. She laughed at his rapidly retreating backside.

‘Iron Bull’ was one of the security officers in the building. No one knew what his real name was. His name tag literally said ‘Iron Bull’. Ninalyn had thought that he and Dorian had really hit it off. But, however interested in her love life he was, he sure didn’t want her asking about his. That made two men in her life, completely unwilling to share.

\--

Solas was disturbed. He decided disturbed was the best word for it.

The painting remained covered in the corner of his studio. He couldn’t bear to look at it; he didn’t know any more about her than he had four weeks ago. Worse, she was making regular appearances in his dreams. Always the same as the first. She would appear, ask him to follow, and then he was suffocating in flowers. In the waking world every question he asked _her_ , he received a different question about _him_. It was the trick _he_ had been using.

It should have made him angry. She was thwarting his plan for a quick seduction. But he wasn’t angry. If anything, he was excited. It wasn’t a one-sided game anymore. He was sure she didn’t know his plans, so it wasn’t like he was playing fair. Even that thought excited him, he found himself gambling with himself.

“What do you do, Solas?” she asked him. They had just left the lobby and she walked beside him, leaning forward to watch his face. It was such a sweet gesture that he laughed genuinely.

“I’m a painter,” he replied smoothly. “As you surmised the night we met.” He looked at her, one eyebrow raised. She blushed at the memory. Solas’ smile grew smug. He was winning.  


“Is that all you do?” she asked and he looked at her, this time a slightly offended look on his face. ‘All’? What was that tone for? “I mean, can you live off of that? You always hear the term starving artist…” she babbled. He trod carefully here, considering his words.

“Yes and no,” he started slowly. “I sell the occasional painting, but I do mostly live off of an… inheritance,” he finished, looking straight ahead. She cocked her head to one side. It made him feel like she was listening to his words echo back to her as she contemplated them.

“I’m head programmer for the firm I work for,” she offered suddenly, and Solas was so surprised he stopped walking. Not that she worked with a computer, although he was surprised she was the head of her own division, which struck him as odd for a person as shy and retiring as she. It was that she had offered him information for his information. No needling needed. She stopped in front of him. “What?” She looked worried.

“I didn’t realize you were so important,” he said. He was only slightly lying. Ninalyn made a face like she didn’t believe him, and Solas tensed.

“More like you didn’t think I worked with computers,” she said. She looked so affronted he let out a short bark of laughter. The laugh eased her features back into her usual expression of casual amusement. “That’s what most people say.” She shrugged and the wind shifted. He caught her scent, mineral water and grapefruit and… lilacs?

“Why do they say that?” he asked to distract himself. If he could smell the lilacs on her, she must have put the flowers between her sheets. His flowers. It was a sentimental gesture he should have expected from her. It felt intimate somehow. They had been his first gift. First…

“I’m a girl, computers are for boys,” she dismissed the thought with a wave of her hand. As she let it fall back to her side, he reached out and took it. She swallowed any of the words that might have come out of her mouth next. He shouldn’t have done it, he wanted her to talk. Her hand was _tiny_ , and soft, like… well, like a woman who sat behind a computer all day.

“Evidently untrue,” He said mildly as he began to gently pull her up the street. She walked close to him, holding on to his fingers. They managed to talk about insubstantial matters until they reached the doors to her office building. Only then did Solas drop her hand. He gave her his half smile before he walked back down the street.

He thought about the information he had learned that day. He couldn’t use the computer thing in his painting. Her hands were so small in his and cool to the touch. Solas’ internal body temperature tended to run hot. She had taken his flowers into her bed. Solas shook himself. Those things wouldn’t help his painting either. Solas should have been concerned. This seduction was taking too long, and he had offered her a glimpse into his life to get what little information he had. A high price for someone with such a dangerous past as Solas.

At this rate, he would never be done with the painting. He would still be teasing information out of her for weeks to come. Solas didn’t dread the prospect of that as much as he thought he should.

\--

“Dorian!” Ninalyn slammed her hands down on his desk and the man yelped. “Sorry,” she apologized and he glared at her without much heat, and slumped down in his chair.

“What is it, Nin?” he asked in a disinterested and slightly irritated tone. His nicknames for her got shorter when he was ticked. She supposed she’d better watch out for the day he called her ‘N’. “Someone on fire?”

“Me,” she said slyly, and Dorian, sensing intrigue, sat up. “I got him to tell me what he does for a living,” she confided, and Dorian raised his eyebrows, impressed. He didn’t need to ask who this was about. Ninalyn had a very one track life.

“Details,” he said in a mock stern voice. “I need details, Nina.” So she told him about how she had taken his advice, and had pestered him until she had gotten him to open up. She neglected the part where Solas had held her hand. She imagined that her fingers still burned.

“I was worried it wasn’t working, actually,” Ninalyn sighed. “It’s like he puts on this mask whenever I ask him a personal question. I think it gives him time to think.” Dorian nodded. They had moved to the break room and were standing by the coffee pot, coffee in hand.

“It’s a clever trick,” Dorian admitted. “Until clever you figured out his tell.” Ninalyn rolled her eyes. And then carefully kept them on Dorian’s face. She tried for casual, but Dorian was clever too and he narrowed his eyes at her. “Nina-“ He started but was cut off by a deep rumbly voice behind him.

“Excuse me,” Iron Bull loomed over both of them, not a feat with Ninalyn, but Dorian was no slouch. Dorian’s normally dark completion was made darker still by a hot blush as he turned to face the enormous black man.

“Hi,” Dorian managed flatly. Ninalyn offered a good-natured wave. Iron Bull stood there for a long minute, his face in a pleasant smile. Ninalyn recognized the stance of a man trying _not_ to be intimidating. He was doing a surprisingly good job of it. After a few more awkward moments, he cleared his throat.

“Uh,” he pointed at the coffee pot they were standing in front of. “Coffee?” He smiled a little sheepishly, and Dorian’s blush deepened if that was possible.

“Right,” He exclaimed a little too loudly, laughing a little too hard. “Of course. Coffee.” Dorian sidestepped, nearly pushing Ninalyn over in his rush to escape. “Most important meal of the day, coffee.” He babbled a little frantically. Iron Bull laughed from his belly. It was such a cheerful noise that it released some of the tension Dorian was holding onto like a spring. Ninalyn dragged him away before he could make a fool of himself.

“Maker use me as a hat stand,” Dorian sat down at his desk, rested his elbows on his desk, rested his head on his arms, and covered his head with his hands.

“He seems nice,” Ninalyn commented as she sipped her coffee. Dorian flipped her off and she laughed. She felt light. Everything was going pretty well, all things considered. Dorian was dancing around a rather large and attractive man, and Ninalyn was gently coaxing Solas out of his outward veneer of chill. Nothing could dampen her mood for the rest of the day.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry about the chapter title, im proud of that line. im actually sorry about this whole chapter, but if i look at it anymore i will edit it out of existence. so here it is. comments still enthusiastically encouraged.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a million years ago and remembered it when i was fangirling over Blustersquall's own apartment AU. Ninalyn is back by popular demand... my demand. Whatever, please comment!


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